Protecting staff and prisoners from COVID-19 in a prison setting (PID048)

11.45am – 12.30pm EDT, 25 October 2022 ‐ 45 mins

Parallel Workshops

The following are a brief synopsis of the measures that were implemented during the pandemic.  
 
Categorisation of prisoners:
- Symptomatic / Positive / Close contacts / Quarantine/ Medically Vulnerable and General Population
 
Contact Tracing:
- A bespoke model that traced probable cases only allowing for the early isolation of index cases and their close contacts
 
Development of various response teams:
- Including National Infection Control Team and a senior management team
 
Point of Entry Screening: 
- All entrants were symptom and temperature checked on entry to each prison
 
Quarantining / Swabbing of prisoners: 
- Swabbing of Quarantine Prisoners in a timely fashion to reduce their quarantine period
- Successful Vaccination Programme
- PPE Supply and distribution
- Education:  (Whole of prison approach – Staff and prisoners)
- Outbreak Management – Mass swabbing of prisoners to seek out the virus 
- Antigen Testing for staff and essential prisoner workers